As typified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,713, portable reels for flexible conduits generally comprise a suitably supportable non-rotatable spool surrounding a rotatable spindle, the spindle being provided with an elongate arm which at a first-end is attached to manually graspable tubular guide for flexible conduit being wound onto or unwound from the spool. However, portable reels of the prior art suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages or deficiencies. Some are not conveniently and reliably mountable to an upright wall or post type environments. Others are too bulky or too heavy for ready portability or for economical shipment. Many employ excessively cumbersome and expensive components and component inter-relationships. One example of the latter is the employment of complicated and internally encumbered manually graspable tubular guides for the flexible conduit.